Looking for non-Disney World outings

We decided to add a few extra days to our family road-trip vacation. We will be in Lake Buena Vista for 5 nights, but will not be visiting Disney parks. We have pretty much ruled out US/IOA, but may cave into the kids desire for a SW/Aquatica visit. We also are considering Busch Gardens. We are just not sure if the big theme parks will be worth the money for us this year. We usually buy Disney APs for and enjoy coming and going to the parks over multiple days, and over multiple trips during an AP year. This vacation, money is tight and we have little desire to be theme park commandos in the FL August heat just to get out money's worth. Plus, DD has autism and sometimes too much fun can end up being too much...period...LOL.

What outings, day trips, etc. (in the Orlando area) have you done and found to be fun. We are especially are looking for lower cost options. Children's ages are 13, 12, 8.

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Resort hopping and playing in the arcades, exploring the gift shops, architectural features and special snacks from the food courts. Many of the resorts have great walking trails/jogging paths and playground areas.

Renting a pontoon boat for an hour or two as early in the day as WDW opens it's marinas...preferably the GF marina.

A hotel with a great pool can take up a lot of your time...

Mini golf

Renting bikes from FW and riding all over and even over to WL property. This also must be done at the earliest possible time in August...you would have to find out when the bike barn opens.

FW Chip and Dale campfire/movie at night...find the schedule on the camping board.

The Boardwalk has entertainment like magicians on certain nights (Thursday, Friday and Saturday, perhaps? You would have to check the schedule) Ice cream from Seashore Sweets or Beaches N Cream would be a plus.

A day or two spent at a water park.

Load up the kids in the car at 4 am and drive to a beach near Clearwater (I think we have gone to Honeymoon Island in years past, but there are several you could look into should this pique your interest) You could play on the beach from 7 am -11 or so and head back to Orlando for naps.

They describe themselves as "Florida's Original Theme park." However, the pace is much slower than WDW or Universal. Your kids will love the Glass Bottom Boats (I sure did when I first road them 45 years ago, and I loved it again when I road them about ten years ago).

A great evening activity is attending one of the outdoor movies at the resorts. The one at Fort Wilderness has a campfire and Chip and Dale also. Yacht/Beach Club, Polynesian and the Contemporary show films on large outdoor screens on their beaches. Grab a light dinner at the resorts and bring snacks for the movies. Lots of fun!

Yes, thank you. A number of the ideas are possibilities. My wife was exploring Indianhead? beach on the Golf side, and we may explore some of the recreation options around Baylake including boating and maybe even one of those disaster-waiting-to-happen surrys. The kids are old enough to pedal now...LOL. Like the idea about the movie at FW too. Oldtown sound interesting and we were also thinking about gatorland.

We finally wrapped up our plans for the stay aftoer scoring Sheraton Vistana villages for $98/night in a 2-BR. We've never stayed there, but it looks nice. We were going to stay at HI (formerly Sunspree) in a family suite for about the same price. Due to a hotwire error, we were able to cancel that ressie and look for a truly last minute option, and we found this.

I plan on reviewing all the links everyone has provided and referencing this thread shile we are traveling, so keep the ideas coming.